Sapphires and Secrets
by Bethhawke
Summary: Set a month after the end of season 3, this story follows on from 'A Second Chance' and 'The Trouble with Teenagers'. When Hawke is called upon to help in a hostage situation in a department store he meets up with Beth again.
1. Chapter 1 Fathers and Sons

Disclaimer – Airwolf is not mine, I have just borrowed the characters, with the exception of Beth who is my creation.

This story follows 'A Second Chance' and 'The Trouble with Teenagers' and is set approximately one month after the end of season 3.

Chapter 1

Stringfellow Hawke strolled into the Santini Air hanger and got to the office just as the phone stopped ringing. He turned to look at his nephew, who had followed him in, and shrugged.

"You should've ran, Uncle String."

"They'll call back if it's important. I'll just wait here and make some coffee," his uncle replied, filling the coffee pot.

A month earlier Hawke had taken responsibility for Le, who he believed was the son of his brother St. John, an MIA in Vietnam. The evidence strongly suggested that Le _was_ St. John's son, but it hadn't been confirmed and wouldn't be until St. John returned home – if he ever did. It didn't matter to Hawke though; he had grown to love Le like a son, never mind a nephew, and had promised to be his dad if St. John turned out not to be. When Le's guardian, his Aunt Minh, had been killed Archangel had sorted out all the legal documents, so for all intents and purposes Hawke was Le's father.

Hawke had just poured his coffee when the phone rang again.

"I told you so," he said to Le with a grin as he picked up the phone. "Santini Air."

"Hey String, where you been?" Dominic Santini asked, "I've been trying you all afternoon."

"Out shopping for a birthday present for Le's friend," Hawke replied, mouthing 'it's Dom' to Le, "Where are you? I was expecting you here."

"Got a flat tyre. It's not worth me coming to the hanger now. Can you lock up for me before you head over?"

"Yeah, no problem Dom. See you in an hour or so, after I've dropped Le off."

After Hawke had dropped Le off at Mickey's house and had a quick chat with his parents, he got back into the car and sat, thinking. This would be the first weekend he had spent without Le since he had taken him in. As much as Hawke wanted the boy to enjoy the weekend, he really wouldn't have minded if he wanted to come home early.

He was suddenly aware of Mickey's mother looking out of the window at him with an indulgent smile on her face. She knew that Hawke was new to the parenting game and suspected he was worried about Le. He gave her a quick wave and started up the car, driving away faster than was necessary. He briefly wondered if she was still smiling now that she had seen how he drove.

He arrived at Dom's house half an hour later and helped him prepare dinner and after they had eaten they sat in old but comfortable chairs listening to a classical record. Hawke had a far away look on his face and was quieter than usual, if that was possible.

"He'll be OK," Dominic said.

"Uh, what?" Hawke replied, pretending not to know what the older man meant.

"I remember the first time you stayed away for the weekend. It was only about a month after your parents died and I didn't want you to go. I didn't tell you that of course, although I did confide in St. John. It was him who made me realise that it would do you good, even if the worry of it nearly killed me."

Hawke was surprised, "I don't remember," he said, "I don't remember anything much of that time," he added quietly.

Dom cleared his throat, "I know kid, it was a hard time. Anyway, just before bedtime the phone rang. I rushed to answer it, certain that something terrible had happened to you," he paused for dramatic effect and Hawke took the bait.

"Well? What had happened? Was I OK?"

Dom smiled knowingly, "Yeah, you were fine. You just rang to say goodnight because you were worried we were missing you," he laughed loudly, "Le will be just fine, you wait and see. Kids bounce back quicker than you think," seeing the doubtful look on the younger man's face he added, "why don't you give him a quick ring?"

"I might do that. Make sure he's OK," he wasn't going to admit that the phone call was purely for his own peace of mind.

Hawke fished the phone number out of his pocket and dialled. Mickey's mum answered and she put Le on the phone to talk to his uncle.

"Hey, Half-Pint, you having fun?"

"Yeah, they've got a puppy and it made a mess on the kitchen floor and Mickey's dad was mad. I'm sure glad Tet is all grown up."

"Me too," Hawke said with a laugh, I'll see you on Sunday then."

"Bye Uncle String, I love you."

"Love you too."

It was the early hours of the morning when Dom wearily climbed the stairs to his bedroom. String had gone up hours ago, to sleep in the room that had been his when he was a teenager. Dom had stayed up, on the pretence that he wanted to catch a late night TV show. In reality he was in a reflective mood and didn't think he would be able to sleep; String's relationship with Le bore more than a passing resemblance to the relationship he had with String and earlier they had talked more about their past than they ever had before.

As he passed String's room he noticed that the door was ajar and a dim light was showing through the crack. Le had confided in him the week before that both he and String had been having nightmares and Le often ended up sleeping at the foot of his uncle's large bed in a gesture of comfort to one or other of them. Dom wasn't surprised to see that String had left a light on but he hoped it wouldn't be needed.

When Hawke woke he was surprised to see the sun streaming through the window and turned onto his side to look at the clock. Eleven o'clock! He'd slept for over twelve hours. He jumped out of bed and hurried to the top of the stairs.

"Hey Dom. You down there," he called, wondering why Dom hadn't woken him earlier.

Dom appeared in the kitchen doorway and looked up at Hawke, "Yeah, _I'm_ down here. Which is more than I can say for you. I suppose you want breakfast now," he was grinning broadly.

Hawke grinned back, "Coffee will do seen as it's nearly lunchtime. I'll just grab a quick shower."

In the kitchen, drinking the strong dark coffee, Hawke felt fully rested for the first time in over a month. If he had dreamed at all, the dreams had been peaceful, none of the wake up screaming and shaking nightmares of the last few weeks. A flicker of worry crossed his mind as he thought of Le and wondered if his sleep been peaceful too. Mickey's mum had promised to call if there were any problems and she hadn't so he decided to assume that all was well.

A couple of hours later they took sandwiches and cold beer out onto Dom's patio .

"Remember when we used to spend our Saturdays like this?" Dom reflected, "Just the two of us, no problems, no Airwolf, no Firm, no_ Archangel_."

Hawke was sitting with his eyes closed, enjoying the peace and warm sun.

"Don't jinx it Dom," he warned, just as the phone rang.

Being in a happy mood Dom answered the phone in Italian, "_Pronto_."

"Dominic?"

Dominic sighed, "Hello Michael. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Is Hawke with you?" Michael 'Archangel' Coldsmith-Briggs III asked, ignoring Dominic's tone that clearly said it wasn't a pleasure at all.

"Yeah," he answered, then shouted, "Hey String, it's the Spotless Wonder for you." On the other end of the phone Archangel cringed and held the phone away from his ear.

Hawke took the phone from Dominic, "What do you want Michael. We have the weekend off."

"Cancel your plans, we have a situation that requires a certain lady."

"Be more specific Michael."

"Is this phone line secure?"

"You know it isn't," Hawke was getting impatient.

"Then contact me when you are on a secure channel and I'll fill you in. Just hurry."

Archangel hung up the phone leaving a frustrated Hawke hanging on the other end.

"Damn him," he muttered under his breath, and turned towards Dominic who was already bringing in the dishes and locking up.

* * *

Marella was looking at Archangel, currently her partner and soul mate and previously her boss.

"You're not going to tell him, are you sir?" her dark eyes boring into his uncovered eye.

He raised an eyebrow, "Sir? Since when did you start calling me sir again?"

"This is business and it's my place to inform you of anything you may have missed."

"I didn't _forget_ to tell him. I don't want him distracted."

"He should know, Michael," she replied in a softer tone.

"It's not our place to tell him. If circumstances change we may have to but until then my decision stands. Understood?"

"Understood. Sir!" she answered defiantly, turning towards Caitlin who had been listening with undisguised interest.


	2. Chapter 2 Sapphires

Standing at the jewellery counter waiting to be served was a young couple. At first glance they appeared to be waiting patiently but on closer inspection they were obviously nervous. The man was tapping his foot on the floor to the rhythm of an silent tune and the woman was fiddling with the ring on her left hand. The man being served was taking his time choosing a necklace for his girlfriend and several discarded trays were out on the counter. He finally chose a gold chain with a heart shaped sapphire pendant which he said matched her eyes.

The waiting man rolled his eyes and edged nearer the counter. Eventually the sales assistant turned to the couple and, apologizing for the wait, asked what he could get them.

They drew guns from their pockets and held them in front of their bodies, hiding them from the rest of the shoppers.

"Everything on the counter and more besides," the young man sneered, "and no alarms."

The sales assistant had already placed his foot on the silent alarm button under the counter but proceeded to place the requested jewellery into a bag. He handed it over without a word and let them walk away with it.

As soon as the silent alarm had sounded the elevators were shut down and security guards entered the stairwell on that floor and the one below. They didn't bother with the flight of stairs going up as there was only one more floor, then more stairs to the roof. Unless there was a helicopter on the roof, which they had ascertained there wasn't, there was no escape that way.

The young woman walked backwards towards the door waving her gun from side to side while the man walked after her, carrying the bag of jewellery in one hand and his gun in the other. As they entered the stairwell the waiting guard hesitated a second to make sure it wasn't innocent shoppers leaving the department; the hesitation cost him his life as the woman shot him in the chest. A second guard managed a shot which hit the thief in his shooting arm just as his finger was squeezing the trigger. The shot caught the guard in the leg and he let out a yell as he fell down a flight of stairs.

"Ruth, there are more guards below us!" shouted the male thief to his companion, "we'll have to go up." He slipped the bag into the crook of his left arm and held the wound on his right arm with his left hand; blood was seeping through, some dripping on the floor.

The young woman let him go ahead while she followed, shooting blindly down the stairs at the other guards who had come running at the sound of the shots. She managed to pick up her companion's dropped gun on the way past and tucked it into her pocket.

They reached the door to the top floor department and stormed through it. Handing the gun to her injured companion, Ruth pushed a heavy wooden cot in front of the door. Realising that if she could move it then so could the following guards, she filled it with anything she could find, making it as heavy as she could. Then she surrounded it with more cots and baby sized furniture.

With the door safely barricaded the woman turned to face the room ready to put up a fight if necessary. It wasn't. She was faced with about a dozen pregnant women and only a couple of men, all staring in horror at the bleeding man waving a gun at them.

She took the gun back and aimed it at the frightened shoppers who had instinctively grouped together.

"No one will get hurt if you do as I say," she told them. "Is anyone medically trained?" Nobody answered but several shook their heads. "Great," she said sarcastically, "someone get me bandages." No one moved and she lost her temper, her finger hovering dangerously over the trigger of the gun. "Now!"

A slim, dark haired pregnant woman moved cautiously towards a display of first aid boxes. Taking one off the shelf she held it up the show her.

"Bring it here," Ruth demanded, "and keep your hands where I can see them."

She slowly walked towards her captor, box held out in front of her in both hands, and stopped about six feet away.

"Open it."

She complied, taking out a bandage and unwrapping it. "Now, fix his arm and don't try anything or I'll shoot."

Kneeling on the floor in front of the injured man, the woman bandaged the wound tightly, needing three bandages before the blood stopped seeping through.

"You need urgent medical attention," she told him.

Ruth moved quickly towards them, "I didn't say you could speak. Return to your friend," she pushed her away from the man, causing her to stumble. Hand pressed protectively to her swollen stomach the woman returned to the group and sat down.

"Are you alright?" the woman next to her asked in a clipped English accent.

"I'm fine," whispered Beth, "don't worry, as soon as your husband realises something is wrong he'll contact Archangel. We'll be out of here before you know it."


	3. Chapter 3 Hostages

The Lair was cool, dark and quiet and the two men sat in the Jeep staring lovingly at the sleek, black helicopter.

Dominic sighed, "I've missed you baby," he said softly.

Hawke just gave him a look and got out of the Jeep. "Come on. Michael said it was urgent and she needs a check over before I take her up."

They spent a half hour checking Airwolf before changing into their flight suits and climbing into the cockpit. Dominic took engineering as usual while Hawke took the plot's seat. After performing the necessary pre-flight checks they rose gracefully, up through the vertical chimney that allowed Airwolf access to and from her hiding place. Once clear of the Lair and the surrounding rock formations Dominic opened a secure channel to Archangel.

"Hawke! About time."

"Get to the point Michael. Where are we headed?"

Archangel gave them the location and Dominic keyed it into the computer while Archangel proceeded to brief them.

"We have a hostage situation. A British politician, who wishes to remain anonymous so we will refer to him as Mr White..." Dominic stifled a laugh, turning it into a cough, "...is visiting with his pregnant wife. She expressed an interest to visit a large department store to purchase some baby equipment and in the interest of diplomacy I offered her an escort, an operative who is also expecting. Unfortunately a jewellery robbery on the floor below went horribly wrong and the thieves are now holding several pregnant women, including Mrs White and my assistant, hostage on the top floor of the department store."

"What do you want us to do?"

"We have made telephone contact with the female thief, who I believe is called Ruth, and she has requested medical help for her injured male companion. She has also informed us that one of the women has gone into labour. I plan to send Marella and Caitlin in masquerading as doctor and nurse. I need you to take them to the roof to access the department from there. While you are there you can scan audio and thermal to see if we can get any information that will give us the advantage."

"Sounds straightforward enough, we'll be with you soon. Airwolf out."

The department store had been evacuated and Archangel and his team had taken over the ground floor. Marella had donned a white coat, with an official name badge and Caitlin had changed into a nurse's uniform, all supplied by a nearby hospital.

Archangel look at them with approval, "You both look genuine. Caitlin, can you treat the gunshot wound while Marella treats the woman and hopefully makes contact with Mrs White and my assistant?"

"I'll try, but as I'm only supposed to be a nurse I can ask Marella for help if I need it."

"That's true. Just don't faint or anything."

Caitlin gave him a disgusted look, "I've dealt with gunshot wounds before, both when I was a cop and from working with Hawke," she replied haughtily, "I _won't_ faint."

Marella smiled at her, "Don't worry Cait, I think that was Michael's attempt at humour," she turned to him, her face serious again, "Cait needs to know."

Michael sighed, nodded and left the building to wait for Airwolf.

"What do I need to know? Is it the thing you were talking about earlier?" Caitlin asked eagerly.

"Yes. Michael's assistant, the one who's escorting the politician's wife, is Beth."

"What, Hawke's Beth? But I thought you said she was..." her voice trailed off as she realised the significance of what Marella was telling her, "Oh my! Does Hawke know?"

"No."

"Oh," for once Caitlin was speechless.

"You can't tell him. I'm only telling you so you don't give anything away when you see her."

"But why hasn't she told him?" Caitlin said indignantly.

"I don't know. She refuses to tell me," hearing Airwolf, Marella looked up to the sky, glad of the diversion. "Here's Airwolf. You ready?"

Hawke landed Airwolf in the parking lot and joined Archangel, Marella and Caitlin for a quick briefing.

He looked at the plans to the building which Marella had managed to obtain and gave her a puzzled look. "Why do you need to access it from the roof? The stairs run from the ground floor to the roof and if the thieves have barricaded themselves in a room they won't be able to see them."

"The Feds are involved, apparently this isn't the first time this couple have struck, and they don't want us trampling all over_ their_ crime scene," Marella replied, obviously unhappy with the situation, "but at least it gives us an excuse to have Airwolf on the roof."

Archangel continued, "They haven't requested anything but medical help as yet but I suspect they will soon be asking for transportation out of the building. Considering that they are on the top floor, a helicopter is the most likely choice and I'm hoping you," he looked at Hawke, "will be the pilot if it proves necessary."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Hawke replied before returning to Airwolf.


	4. Chapter 4 Getting Inside

Marella unlocked the roof door and led the way down to the top floor of the building. As they approached the barricaded door a voice from the other side called to them, "Stop where you are."

They stopped and stood still, waiting for further instructions.

There was a lot of noise coming from behind the door as Ruth moved the barricade just enough to allow them through. She opened the door slightly and a gun poked through the gap along with a threat, "Any tricks and I'll shoot you and my friend will shoot one of the hostages. Understood?"

"Understood. We don't want any trouble," Marella answered, edging her way through the gap closely followed by Caitlin, "just lead us to the patients."

After being searched Caitlin knelt down beside the injured man and took the bandages off his arm. It was a straightforward bullet wound, the bullet having passed through, and she proceeded to clean it up and bandage it more thoroughly.

Meanwhile Marella moved to the back of the room where Beth was sitting uncomfortably on the floor surrounded by some of the other women. She asked the women to move aside, except for Mrs White, who was holding Beth's hand.

"Are you OK?" Marella asked quietly.

"I'm fine, I just thought two medical emergencies would get you in quicker than just the one," she grinned at her friend.

Marella pretended to examine her, all the while quietly asking questions that Ruth wouldn't be able to hear.

"Is there another way out of here?"

"Possibly through the bathroom. I was in there earlier and there is access to the roof space in the ceiling. I can't climb up there in my condition but you or Cait could, or String could come in that way if it leads to the roof."

"How did you know he was here?" Marella asked.

"I heard Airwolf," a look of concern crossed her face, "have you told him?"

"No, but I think he'll be finding out soon. Let's see if one of us can get into the bathroom," she looked over at Caitlin who had just finished bandaging the thief's arm, "Nurse, if you've finished I could do with some help over here."

Caitlin looked at Ruth who just nodded and kept her gun trained on them.

Taking her medical bag with her Caitlin joined Marella on the floor next the Beth and Mrs White.

"Please find me a container and fill it with cool water," Marella asked Caitlin, "there's a bathroom just behind us. See if you can access the roof," she added quietly.

"I really could use the bathroom," Mrs White said, loud enough for Ruth to hear.

"OK but just the two of you," Ruth agreed, "and don't be long."

Caitlin took a jug off a nearby shelf, removed the packaging and went into the bathroom with Mrs White. They sighed with relief when the door shut behind them

"I'm Caitlin, you must be Mrs 'White'."

"Call me Ann, I might forget to answer to Mrs White," she replied wryly.

Caitlin stood on the sink which was almost directly underneath the access to the roof. The ceiling was quite low and she had no trouble pushing the hatch open. Gripping with both hands, she pulled herself up and peered into the dark roof space.

"It's pitch black. I'll see if I can find a light. Keep an eye on the door and let me know if you hear anyone coming."

Ann stood by the door and opened it a crack. She couldn't see either of the thieves from the door which was in an alcove. She just hoped that if Ruth did decide to investigate that Marella could delay her.

"I've found a light. This looks like storage space. I'm going to look for an exit, shout if anyone comes."

"Alright, but hurry up," Ann replied, getting nervous as the minutes ticked by.

As quickly as the crammed space would allow, Caitlin walked across the roof space, taking care to keep quiet as she guessed she was probably above where Ruth was standing. At the end she spotted a door and opening it she found herself on the stairs that led from the top floor to the roof. Stepping out and looking back she realised how they had missed the door earlier; it had no handle on the outside. She took off her shoes and used them to prop open the door and climbed the last few steps to the roof.

Hawke was waiting for her, gun aimed at the doorway, which he lowered when he saw it was Caitlin.

"Dom was scanning thermal and spotted you. What's the situation?"

"Follow me, we don't have much time," Caitlin started back down the stairs, whispering to him, "I sedated the man, told him they were pain killers, so he should be out of the picture. The woman has a gun and is standing with her back to the door, which she has barricaded, facing the hostages," she stopped and looked at him, "Hawke, Beth is one of the hostages."

By now they were above the bathroom and they lowered themselves out of the hatch.

"What's she doing here?" he asked.

"Working for Archangel, escorting Ann," she indicated the waiting woman who was looking less nervous now that help had arrived.

Hawke handed Caitlin a gun and told her what he planned to do.

Ann and Caitlin returned to the room with the jug of water and as she got to Marella Caitlin tripped, spilling the water all over the floor. As she righted herself she was able to tell Marella that Hawke was in the bathroom.

Marella took her lead and shouted at Caitlin, "Clumsy! Go back and fill the jug and this time be more careful."

Caitlin struggled to hide a smile at Marella's stern words, thankful that she was just pretending, and returned to the bathroom.

"The man is unconscious and Ruth is in front of the door, at 11 o'clock. She has her gun aimed at the hostages so you'll only have one chance to hit her. I'll be directly behind you in case you miss."

"I won't miss," he replied grimly.

In an attempt to draw Ruth's attention away from the bathroom, Marella turned her attention to the unconscious man. "I'm going to check on your friend," she told Ruth, walking slowly towards him, aware of the gun following her every move.

Hawke opened the bathroom door and slowly and quietly stepped into the room with Caitlin right behind him. Gun held ready in front of him, he eased his body around the corner until he had Ruth in his sight. She was looking at Marella who was kneeling in front of her injured companion but would easily see him out of the corner of her eye if he made any sudden movements or drew attention to himself. Although he was concerned about Marella getting shot, he knew he had to take the chance. Aiming carefully he took his shot and Ruth let out a cry of pain as the bullet pierced her hand. She dropped her gun, cradling the bloody hand to her body and lunged at Marella who was closest to her.

"Freeze or I'll shoot," Caitlin shouted from her position just to the side of Hawke. Ruth froze and Marella immediately grabbed the woman, twisting her arm behind her and pushing her to the floor.

Hawke moved aside the items blocking the door to the stairs and called out to the men waiting outside. Archangel was with them and recognising Hawke's voice told them to lower their weapons as the door was opened.

"Go make your arrests." he told them.

The FBI rushed into the room and relieved Marella of Ruth.

"What's wrong with him?" one asked her, pointing to the unconscious male lying on the floor.

"He's been sedated, he should come around in a few hours, and then his arm will hurt like hell," she told him bluntly, "if you want him to talk you may want to withhold the painkillers." She calmly walked over to the other hostages to see if everyone was OK.

Hawke tucked his gun into his belt and scanned the room for Beth. He spotted her almost immediately and started towards her. As he got close to her the smile froze on his lips and he stopped in his tracks. She struggled to her feet and he put a hand out to help her, looking her up and down. "Got something to tell me?" he asked coldly, "you didn't waste any time, did you?" he let go of her hand and turned his back on her and spoke to Caitlin, "I'll be in Airwolf, d'you want a lift out of here?"

"Hawke..."

"Leave it Cait. You coming or not?"

"Not!" she replied angrily, turning towards Beth who was standing speechless, staring at the departing Hawke.


	5. Chapter 5 Altercations

Hawke ran up the stairs to the roof and climbed into Airwolf's cockpit.

"Hey String. Everything OK?" Dominic asked, noting the grim look on his face.

Hawke was about to answer when the roof door opened and Beth stepped out. He just gestured in her direction.

"Oh, I see," Dominic said awkwardly, "shall I leave you two alone?"

Hawke didn't answer, just stepped out of Airwolf and faced his ex girlfriend.

"String, we need to talk."

"I don't think I have anything to say to you," he replied coldly, not meeting her eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. If you'd just let me explain..."

"What's to explain. You said you might date other men in Europe."

"What! Is that what you think? String..."

"No! Don't say any more, I don't want to hear it," he started towards Airwolf, not even turning when she shouted after him.

"Stringfellow Hawke you are_ impossible_! I'm seven months. Do the maths and get back to me when you've worked it out."

She stormed back to the stairs, just managing to control herself until she was out of sight of him.

Hawke slumped into his seat, angry and upset. He had heard her shout at him but hadn't really heard her words, all he wanted was to get the image of her out of his head. When she had left him, months earlier, to work in Europe with Marella, they had kept in touch by phone for a few weeks until the distance between them had become awkward. He had hoped that when she returned home they could try again, he was even willing to put aside his worry about her working for Archangel. Now it looked as thought his dreams were shattered. He felt betrayed by Beth and even more so by Marella and Archangel who obviously knew about her condition. He sat in silence, just thinking, until this thoughts were disturbed by Dominic, "String? You OK?" He looked at his watch, surprised by the amount of time that had passed.

He just shook his head, not knowing what to say.

"What did she say?"

Hawke turned his head and glared at his friend who was sitting behind him with a concerned look on his face.

"Nothing."

"She must have said something. She was shouting."

"Dom, please..."

"Look kid, tell me to mind my own business if you want but she obviously said something to upset you."

"She's going to have another man's baby, what do you expect her to say?"

"Are you sure?"

"What? You saw the evidence with your own eyes!"

Dominic sighed. String could be so dense sometimes, "Did she tell you that? I mean you and her were...well, you know..._together _before she left for Europe, weren't you? I'm no expert but she looks pretty far gone to me."

Hawke just stared at him, the thought that the baby might be his hadn't even occurred to him. He tried to remember what she had said when he had been too angry to pay attention. When he realised what she had shouted after him he tried to remember when they had last been together. "When was Cody kidnapped?" he asked Dominic.

"Let's see, it was last year, about a month before Christmas. Why?" Hawke raised his eyebrows and Dominic looked slightly embarrassed, "Oh I see. Well it's July now so that's... about seven months ago."

"_Shit!_" Hawke exclaimed with feeling, realising that he'd not only made a fool of himself but hurt Beth in the process.

"Why don't you leave it until you've both cooled down," Dominic suggested, having experienced their fights in the past, "I doubt she'll want to listen just now."

"Yeah," Hawke sighed, "you could be right."

Just then a beeping noise came from the rear of Airwolf.

"What does he want now?" Hawke grumbled rhetorically, "Put him through." Dominic connected the call and Hawke spoke, not bothering to hide his irritation at the disturbance.

"What is it now Michael?"

He was surprised to hear Marella's frightened voice, "Hawke were are you? We're being shot at!"

"Marella? We're still on the roof. Give me your location." He started the engines as she radioed her location to them.

"Hawke, we're in the limo. I've dodged bullets from a passing van but now there's a chopper, armed to the teeth. It's following us. Hurry _please,_" she sounded desperate.

As they lifted into the air and hit the turbos Dominic asked Hawke, "Why would someone be shooting at them?"

"I don't know! Maybe that British guy. Michael said he wanted to stay incognito."

"Yeah, hence that Mr 'White' business," Dom's laugh held little humour this time.

At Mach 1 it took little time to reach the limo and Dominic had already located the gunship on the radar.

"They're shooting at the limo," he called to Hawke.

"Guns!"

"You got 'em."

Hawke shot at the chopper, just missing it as it banked sharply, turning to take another shot at the limo.

"Open a channel Dom."

"Open."

"Set that bird down before I make you," he demanded of the other pilot.

"No reply String," Dominic informed him.

"Full combat mode."

"Full combat mode. Check!"

"I can't shoot him down while he's directly above the limo, let's play chase for a while," Hawke swung around so he was behind the gunship and fired another volley of bullets at it.

"You've hit him, String, not enough to bring him down but he's limping."

"Good," Hawke said with satisfaction, "now for the real battle."

The other chopper eased off and dropped behind Airwolf, firing again, "They're firing at the limo again. This guy's not giving up," Dominic commented with grudging admiration for the determined pilot.

Hawke moved Airwolf to intercept the bullets which bounced of her reinforced shell.

"Let's finish this before someone gets hurt."

Using Airwolf's superior speed and manoeuvrability, Hawke once more swung round behind the gunship and, lowering his visor, lined up the shot. One small movement with his thumb had a missile flying towards it and seconds later the chopper exploded in a ball of flame.

"Good shot, String."

"Yeah, let's go and check up on the limo."


	6. Chapter 6 Resting

The limo had pulled over to the side of the road and the doors were opening as Hawke landed Airwolf a safe distance away.

He and Dominic ran towards the limo, relieved to see that everyone appeared to be unhurt.

Marella was standing by the driver's door, talking on a hand held radio, calling for a clean up crew. Michael was helping Mr and Mrs White out of the limo while Caitlin ran towards Dominic, hugging him tightly and thanking him for saving them.

Hawke watched as Beth left the limo last and stood leaning against the car, a hand resting on her stomach and eyes looking at the ground.

"Beth," something in his voice made her look up and he smiled tentatively at her.

Forgetting the argument they'd had less than an hour ago she threw herself into his arms with such force that he nearly fell backwards.

"Whoa, it's over now. You're safe," he tried to comfort her.

"I thought we were going to die in there and all I could think of was that you wouldn't get to know your baby," she sobbed, clinging tightly to him.

"Shush," he held her tightly, "I'm sorry I said those things."

She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. She saw only sincerity and love shining back at her and forgave him instantly.

"Why do I always forgive your moods?" she asked him, not really expecting a reply.

"Because you love me?" he replied teasingly.

She punched his arm, then pulled away from him as Archangel approached them, looking grim.

"What's wrong Michael?" Hawke asked, concerned by the look on the spy's face.

"You shot down the chopper but there's still an armed van out there. It drove past quickly, with someone shooting from the passenger window. If it wasn't for Marella's driving we would have been hit," Marella had walked up behind them and he put his arm around her waist, "the van was plain white with no distinctive markings or registration plates."

Marella interrupted, "I've just spoken to Mr White. He doesn't seem surprised about this attack and I think he knows more than he's letting on. Hawke, you'd better escort us to the clinic."

"Why the clinic?" he asked.

"Ann and Beth need a check up. Ann seems OK, she doesn't seem to understand the seriousness of the situation. She says it seems like a bad TV movie!"

Hawke glanced at Beth. Now the rush of adrenaline had subsided she didn't look very well. He put a supporting arm around her and she leaned into him.

"Stressful day huh," he said, trying to make her smile. It worked.

"Always the master of understatement,"she replied with a weary grin, "I'm exhausted."

Once they were safely at the clinic Dominic and Caitlin took Airwolf back to the lair while Hawke stayed with Beth. The doctors agreed to let her go home if she rested and Marella took Beth and Hawke to Beth's apartment.

"Talk or rest?" he asked her.

"Rest. Make yourself at home, you know where everything is. We'll talk later, I promise."

Taking off her shoes she lay down on the bed and tried to sleep. From the other room came the sound of the radio being switched on, then off again. She had just drifted off to sleep when the sound of breaking china, followed by a curse, came from the kitchen, then the soothing gurgle of the coffee machine lulled her to sleep again. She was woken suddenly by the sound of the bathroom door banging. Glancing at the clock she noted that she'd only been asleep for 20 minutes.

"String! For crying out loud, shut up and get in her!" she shouted, unable to stand the disturbances any more.

He sheepishly put his head around the door.

"Come and lie down next to me. Then at least I'll know where you are," she did wonder if he was being noisy on purpose to get her attention but decided that he was just restless.

They lay side by side, trying to sleep but they couldn't.

"This isn't working," Hawke commented.

"I guess not," Beth replied, sitting up.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked quietly.

She was silent for so long that he wondered if she had heard him. He was about to repeat the question when she spoke.

"I wanted to. I even phoned Santini Air. Cait answered...

Hawke interrupted angrily, "She didn't tell me."

"I don't think she recognised my voice, the line from England was bad, and I didn't introduce myself. I wasn't sure what to say, I mean, it's not the sort of news you break over the phone. I was going to play it by ear, see if you were pleased to hear from me. Anyway I asked to speak to you and she said you weren't available. I tried to find out more, said I needed to speak to you urgently and she told me you had gone to a 'friend's' place and would be back later, or possibly not until morning. I hung up. Her tone made it obvious that you were with a woman and she sounded a bit jealous."

Hawke took a deep breath, "When was this?"

"You mean there was more than one time?"

"No, well yes maybe, but it didn't mean anything. I was missing you. When Beth?"

"Mid February. I remember crying my eyes out on St Valentine's Day, that's February 14th in case you didn't know. Michael had sent Marella a giant bunch of white roses with a romantic card. She came to my room to show me; she was so happy," she sighed at the memory.

"Lia," he whispered.

"Who?"

"Lia, she had called me, told me she was frightened and could I come over, but really she wanted me out of the hanger so her friends could take Cait and Dom. You must have phoned before the kidnappers arrived."

"What happened?"

"It's a long story and I don't feel like telling it now. She died," he added sadly.

"I'm sorry," she leaned over and hugged him. He held her tightly, letting the tension of the day dispel and they finally fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7 Secrets

Waking the next morning in Beth's apartment seemed so familiar that Hawke forgot for a moment why he was there. Glancing over at her sleeping form, not wanting to wake her, he slipped stealthily out of bed and into the bathroom. His clothes were creased from being slept in and without thinking he threw them into the laundry hamper before stepping into the hot, steaming shower. He let the water pour over him, drenching his body, while he thought. The baby was his, she had confirmed that, but what she hadn't said was what she had planned for the future and whether it included him. He would have to tell her about Le and she might not want to take on a teenage boy as well as a new baby. Worse still, he would have to tell Le about Beth. How was he going to explain to the young teenager that he had a girlfriend, an ex girlfriend to be exact, who was 7 months pregnant. What sort of an example was that to set him when he was at that easily influenced age?

Hawke stepped out of the shower and dried quickly, wondering what he was going to wear as he returned to the bedroom. Beth was awake and sitting up in bed.

"I didn't mean to wake you," he said, looking at her closely to see if she showed any signs of the stressful previous day.

"You didn't. I forgot to switch off the alarm," she also looked him up and down, noting he was only dressed in a towel, "You left some clothes when you were here last," she told him, gesturing towards the wardrobe.

He took out the jeans and checked shirt that were hanging up and dressed swiftly, feeling self concious with her watching him and wondering how to broach the subject of Le.

"Beth..."

"String..."

They spoke at the same time. He sat on the edge of the bed and she indicated that he should speak first.

"I have a nephew," he blurted out.

She took a moment to work it out, "St. John's son?" she questioned, "why are you telling me now?"

"His aunt was looking after him. She died and Archangel arranged for me to be his legal guardian. He's living with me, at the cabin and sometimes at Dom's place." He looked into her eyes, baring his soul to her and silently begging for her to understand what he was telling her.

She just stared back at him until he could stand it no longer. "Say something, dammit. Anything!"

"I don't know what to say. What's his name? How old is he?"

"Le. Le Van Hawke to be precise. He's 13."

"So...what are you saying? That you don't want to take on more responsibilities?" she forced out the words, knowing that he would leave it to her to work out what he wanted to say. Sometimes his silences were easy to read, but this one had her confused.

"_What? _No!" he sounded shocked, "I thought _you_ might not want to. I mean, you haven't said what you want. I don't know what you _want_," the last sentence came out as a sob and Beth knelt up on the bed and gathered him into her arms.

"I want us, I always have."

"You never said," he said, accusing, "you were the one who left me, remember?"

"At the time I thought it was for the best. I guess I was wrong," she shrugged, unsure what else to say.

"_When _did you decide that you were wrong? Before or after you found out you were pregnant?" he demanded, wanting to know if it was him she wanted or the father of her baby.

"Before. I never even thought I could be pregnant. I thought the symptoms were a result of the stress of leaving you, missing you," she looked deep into his eyes, "I missed you so much. Marella was beginning to despair I was so miserable."

He believed her; they had never lied to each other, held back the truth sometimes but never told outright lies. They were both too open to successfully lie to each other.

"Can we try again, you, me, Le and the baby?"

"That sounds good, but no promises yet. What if Le hates me?"

"He'll love you, I just know it!" he was starting to hope again, "and talking of Le, I have to pick him up. Can I borrow your car?" Beth nodded. "And, if Le agrees, will you come and stay at the cabin for a few days, see how it goes?"

She only hesitated for a second before agreeing.

Hawke listened to Le chatting about his weekend, pretending to concentrate on his driving so that he didn't have to say too much. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was nervous. He didn't know Le well enough to know what his reaction to Beth would be, but he did know that he was sensitive about adults leaving him. Hawke knew he would have to convince Le that having a baby around wouldn't change the way he felt about his nephew.

He realised that Le had stopped talking and was looking at him expectantly.

"Sorry Half-Pint, I wasn't paying attention. You wanna tell me that last bit again?" he apologised, realising that not paying attention to him now wasn't going to help when he wanted Le to listen to _him_.

"It's OK Uncle String. I was just saying that I don't want lunch. We ate party leftovers for breakfast," he confessed, knowing that his uncle liked him to eat healthily.

"A bit of junk food now and again won't hurt you," Hawke took a deep breath, "Le, I need to talk to you about something. How about we stop for a coke?"

Le looked nervous, "Is something wrong? You have been more quiet than usual, is Dominic OK?"

Hawke was quick to reassure him, "Yeah, he's fine. It's nothing bad," he saw a sign up ahead, "let's stop here, I can't talk while driving."

Hawke ordered coffee and coke and they took their drinks to a quiet table where they could talk in private.

After a few false starts Hawke finally blurted out, "I've got a friend I want you to meet."

"A friend, like a girlfriend?" Le asked hopefully.

"Yeah, how d' you guess?"_ Maybe this won't be too difficult_, he thought.

Le shrugged, "Just a lucky guess. You should have a girlfriend then you wouldn't be so lonely."

_Where did the 13 year old get such insight_, Hawke wondered. "So you'd like to meet her?"

"Yeah, I guess. What's her name? Is she pretty?"

Hawke laughed, "Her name is Beth and she's_ very_ pretty. I'd like her to stay at the cabin for a few days, see if you two get on. Is that OK with you?"

Le nodded, then looked a bit puzzled, "But where will she sleep? It's already crowded with just the two of us." Le had been bunking on a mattress on the floor of Hawke's bedroom.

_Oops, maybe not so easy after all. _Hawke thought, thinking of the best way to explain to the boy.

"Well, she normally sleeps in my bed," he looked closely at his nephew to gauge his reaction.

"So you sleep on the sofa, like when Dom has a bad back and you give him your bed."

Hawke silently groaned, this was going from bad to worse. He wasn't the boy's father, hadn't brought him up, taught him about the birds and bees, as Dom used to call it. He didn't know the extent of Le's knowledge. At 13 Hawke had been engrossed in his music and it had been a couple of years later that he had really discovered girls.

"Le, there's something I haven't told you yet. Beth is ..." _What's the matter with me. I'm the grown_ _up here, just spit it out, _"...pregnant."

Le looked at his uncle, then hung his head, "So you're going to be a real dad," he sounded sad and Hawke remembered his earlier thought about reassuring Le that he still wanted him. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Hey, Half-Pint, it won't make any difference to us. I promised I'd be your dad and nothing can change that."

"But what if she doesn't like me? You'll send me away to live with someone else."

Hawke placed a finger under his nephew's chin and lifted his head so he had to look at him. "I promised!" he said emotionally, "I'll never break that promise, _never_."

Le stared into his uncle's blue eyes and mouthed the word, '_promise?'_

Hawke nodded and mouthed back, '_promise_'.

Le hugged him hard, then released him quickly, looking around to see if anyone had seen.

"I guess I'll take the sofa then," he said, reassured by his uncle's promise.

The drive back to the hanger was a little awkward. Beth asked Le about school and the party he had just been to but then the conversation dried up. Hawke was out of his depth. He loved them, wanted to live with them both, all three of them when the baby came, but _he_ couldn't make them love or even like each other, they had to do that themselves.

It was late afternoon when they finally reached the cabin and Hawke realised he was hungry.

"I'll go catch a trout," he told them, collecting up his fishing gear.

"Yuck!" Le and Beth said in unison. They looked at each other and laughed, the tension broken.

"Let's go raid the kitchen cupboard," Beth suggested, "and I may have some goodies in my bag."

Hawke stood in the doorway for a few minutes, just watching them. _Maybe it _will _be OK after all_, he thought as he left them alone together.

After checking the cupboard for supplies and getting the ingredients out for dinner, Beth opened her bag.

"What did you bring," Le asked her, looking curiously at the packets she had taken out.

"Jelly beans, all the way from England. Do you like them?"

"Dunno, can I try one?"

"Let's both have some. I can't stop eating them, I think the baby likes them." She took plates out of the cupboard and tipped the jelly beans into them, "Eat one colour at a time, tell me which is your favourite."

"Which is your favourite?" he asked, taking one and biting it in half.

"Green."

"Then I'll save you the green ones," he generously offered.

When Hawke returned he was greeted by the sight of Le and Beth sitting at the table sorting jelly beans into colours and, more importantly, talking.

"Hey String, try a jelly bean," Le threw one at him and Hawke expertly caught it before joining them at the table.

"Michael called while you were out," Beth told him, "apparently Mr 'White' had received letters threatening to harm him if he took this trip. He made a big mistake not telling Archangel; he's sent them both home."

"The idiot!" Hawke exclaimed, "he could've got you killed."

"But he didn't, I'm fine," she said pointedly, tipping her head slightly in Le's direction. She didn't want Hawke talking about it in front of Le. He took the hint and changed the subject.

"So, what have you two been talking about. Not me I hope." He popped the jelly bean in his mouth and grimaced, "You eat these?" he asked rhetorically.

"Uncle String, can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Well, you had a secret nephew and Beth had a secret baby. Why didn't you just tell each other and we could have been a family."

Hawke and Beth looked at each other on amazement, then laughed.

"You can answer that," Beth said, still laughing, "he's _your_ nephew."

Hawke ruffled Le's hair, "Good point Le, I guess we've all learned a lesson from this. No more secrets, from now on we talk, OK?" He looked at them both, waiting for their agreement. He didn't have long to wait.

"OK!" they both said, with genuine feeling.

Beth lifted her head and Hawke kissed her tenderly, their first kiss since they had met again. He hoped there would be many more.

And just so Le wouldn't feel left out he dropped a kiss on the top of his head.

"Now who's going to help me gut this fish?!"


End file.
